With movie tie-ins almost unknown now on consoles, it was surprising that 2014’s Shadow Of Mordor even got made. But that surprise was compounded by it not only being very good, but having it debut a genuinely new and exciting gameplay concept. The nemesis system is such a great idea it’s genuinely disappointing that nobody else has tried to tried to copy it in the last three years, but now it’s back and better than ever. Although that’s not necessarily true of everything in this rather bloated sequel.

Shadow Of War arrives with two major controversies already biting at its heels. One is the fact that it has loot boxes and microtransactions, despite being a full price single-player game, and the other is the bile with which its story has been greeted by Tolkien aficionados. If the original game’s grimdark take on The Lord Of The Rings was enough to have J.R.R. Tolkien himself spinning in his grave, then the liberties taken here will be lucky not to have him shaking the Earth free from its orbit.

We’re not unsympathetic to developer Monolith’s approach though, as their options are limited. Their brief was to create a game that mimicked many of the most famous scenes from the movies, while being set between The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings trilogies. Having Shelob the giant spider transform into an attractive goth lady is certainly an unusual interpretation of the source material, but other story elements are even more at odds with what Tolkien wrote.

For a start there’s the central plot gimmick, which involves the spirit of elf lord Celebrimbor – to whom main character Talion is still bonded – creating a new ring of power that can force orcs to do your bidding. So while the core action is still a fairly straight mix of Batman: Arkham and Assassin’s Creed it’s now married to a whole new strategy element where you have to manage your armies and lay siege to enemy fortresses.

Finding and recruiting orc commanders is the driving force behind much of the gameplay, something which would very quickly become repetitive if not for the nemesis system. This works in the same basic way as before, by ensuring that enemies remember you from past fights and both you and they build a reputation that all the other characters react to.

Where Shadow Of War expands on the idea is by greatly increasingly the positive and negative attributes of each orc, which you can find out about by interrogating their underlings. This can reveal that an opponent is vulnerable to poison, for example, or that a stealth attack is useless. It’s possible to not only learn more about your enemies but to plan ambushes and subvert whole swathes of their armies before you even face them in battle. Which is extremely useful when you’re working your way up the chain of command from local tribal leaders to a fortress’s overlord.

Despite all this, recruiting orcs does eventually get repetitive, and the Arkham-inspired combat system has at this point been reused a few too many times to thrill in the same way it once did. But what does add new blood to the concept is the sieges, which combine every aspect of the game into a thoroughly entertaining whole.

Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War (XO) – if you like it, put a ring on it

How you approach each battle is entirely up to you, as you balance hands-on involvement with keeping an eye on the bigger picture and how your orcs are doing. There are also a number of unique boss battles which show significant improvement on the first game, and while they do still employ QTE sequences they feel much more dynamic than before.

But while most of the individual elements of the game are notably improved over the original, the game as a whole doesn’t hang together quite as well. Whether or not you care about the authenticity of the storytelling its pacing is awful, most obviously in the peculiar end game; where although the main plot is already substantially resolved you have to work your way through a series of additional fortress battles to get the full ending.

Which is a good time to start talking about the loot boxes. In the normal course of the game they’re really not necessary at all. They offer nothing that you can’t find in your game yourself, often fairly easily, but when you get to the end game suddenly the difficulty level spikes and you find yourself in need of significantly more powerful orcs that would take a lot of grinding and busywork to assemble by playing the game normally.

There are other problems too, such as the awkward menu system that makes it impossible to find a specific type of weapon or orc in a hurry. And we haven’t even mentioned the stat-boosting gems and overgrown skill tree. It’s great that the game has so many options, but more often than not it’s very hard to notice the difference they make. Either that or they rob the hand-to-hand combat of its sense of danger, as your character becomes too powerful much too quickly.

Although it would’ve seemed madness a decade or so ago the complaint that a video game is just too long, or overstuffed with features, is becoming increasingly common. Some developers just don’t seem to know when to say no, and Shadow Of War is a prime example of a game that would’ve been a lot more entertaining as a shorter, leaner experience. Less features, rather than more, would’ve been better, and we’re not just talking about the loot boxes.

Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War

In Short: The nemesis system remains one of this generation’s most important innovations, and as bloated as this sequel can be it ensures there’s rarely a dull moment.

Pros: Recruiting orcs and sieging fortresses works great, and the nemesis system ensures repetition is far less of a problem than it should be. Enjoyable combat and boss battles.

Cons: The story is poorly paced and will give Tolkien purists an aneurism. Dull and entirely unnecessary end game. Awkward menus and too much feature creep.